Rep. Ed Case

A quick report from the Hill. The extreme politics of 100% - if you’re not 100% for what I think and want, I’m 100% against you – is dominating the House and obstructing our work. This isn’t legislating, this isn’t governing for real solutions to our challenges.

…State  Rep. Joe Gedeon on East Honolulu and economic development issues; and East-West Center President Celeste Connors plus 27 Asia Pacific Leaders Fellows from 19 countries on common issues and Hawai’i partnerships. (2/2)

Full mixed plate week home before heading back to DC crunch included: Indonesia Ambassador to the U.S. Indroyono and U.S. Ambassador to New Zealand Novelly on Pacific issues and Hawaii’s central role; Island Energy Services Prez Jon Mauer and team in Kapolei on protecting our critical energy supply chain… (1/2)

Mabuhay! Joined the Filipino Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii’s festive 72nd Commemorative Anniversary and Officer  Installation. Not only the voice of Hawaii’i Fil-Am businesses but a driving force for the community and a great partner in our strong relationship with the Philippines. Special aloha to Gino Soquena, taking over as the next in a long line of great Presidents. Salamat! filipinochamber.org

The trans-Pacific drug trade runs both east, from Asia to North America, and west, from there back to Asia, Australia and New Zealand. Either way, our Pacific islands are getting caught in the middle by transnational crime using us for transshipment and causing increased drug-related crime, health and other challenges at home. I joined my colleague Congressman Moylan of Guam in legislation to boost our federal counter-efforts in our islands themselves. case.house.gov/news/documents…

Coastie Day. I was honored to present Kalihi-born-and-raised US Coast Guard Lt Commander Creighton Chong with a Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition for his advancement/contributions to our Coast Guard and Hawai’i, as well as welcome/intro w/incoming Commander, Oceania District (Hawai’i/Pacific) RAdmiral Wayne Arguin, and my special remarks in the Congressional Record to the crew of USCG Cutter  Hollyhock on their recent cruise thru the Pacific Islands strengthening our vital partnerships. My remarks here: congress.gov/congressional-…

Hands off our mail balloting. I joined 168 of my colleagues in strongly objecting to the U.S. Postal Service’s proposed rule which would restrict mail-in balloting and reverse so much progress in making voting easier in Hawai’i and across our country. Here’s our letter: case.house.gov/UploadedFiles/…

I had a great early intro meeting with new Honolulu Police Chief David Lazar. We discussed mutual priorities and where and how I can contribute thru Appropriations and other federal efforts. Really looking forward to our partnership and to continuing to advance HPD’s critical mission.

I joined historic Olivet Baptist Church on South Beretania to present a Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition to Senior Pastor Jamie McElrath and congregation on the occasion of their 100th anniversary. Olivet is the oldest Southern Baptist church in Hawai’i and has ministered faithfully to our diverse community for a century now including our Japanese speaking ‘ohana. Congrats and mahalo, Olivetbaptist.org

These every-two-years congressional redistricting wars purely for political advantage are destructive to our democracy on several counts. I’m co-leading a bipartisan gerrymandering reform package to return to the basics of all voters picking their reps and not reps selecting their voters. More: case.house.gov/news/documents…

Welcomed Pastors Josh and Shannon Marocco and Dylan and Rachel Andrion of King’s Cathedral & Chapels to the Hill to discuss several issues of mutual concern. Always appreciate talking story with our many and varied communities of faith and working together for those we serve.

Hawai’i in the House. I welcomed 28-year Marine veteran Jorge Aspiazu of Salt Lake and service dog Toa to my office. Jorge serves his fellow vets throughout Hawai’i and the Pacific at the Veterans Health Administration out of Tripler. He’s on a prestigious one-year Department of Veterans Affairs Congressional Fellowship on the Hill with my colleague Rep. Jack Bergman of Michigan. We talked story on how to improve veterans services; great to have his real-world insights as we work together this year.

My legislative record is the sum total of my efforts and accomplishments to fulfill my three-part mission to help lead our country, help our Hawai’i and help my constituents. It includes my votes in Congress (6,032 to date), legislation, work in my House Appropriations Committee and other committees and caucuses, speeches, joint letters and statements and more. I believe in making it readily available to let constituents know what I’m doing and why, to answer questions and to correct misunderstandings. My first and main effort is to provide a simple, central, transparent resource on my record and other efforts through my official website at case.house.gov. In this release I also summarize my record on 20 key issues, my efforts in Appropriations, and my constituent services: case.house.gov/news/documents….

I was honored to join my colleague and fellow appropriator, Rep. David Valadao (CA-22), whose family emigrated from the Azores to California in 1969, and other Portuguese American colleagues in introducing our measure to designate June as Portuguese National Heritage Month. Our Hawaii’s own Portuguese heritage dates back to the beginning of sustained immigration in 1878; we are the third highest % of total population of the states (after Rhode Island and Massachusetts). Multo Obrigado! congress.gov/bill/119th-con…

Mahalo to Jesus Arriola of the International Assn. of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW) Local 1998 for visiting me on Capitol Hill to discuss various member issues including focusing on aviation safety, protecting collective bargaining rights and continuing federal investments in our Hawai’i defense infrastructure at Pearl Harbor, Schofield Barrack and elsewhere. Agreed on all.

Greatly appreciated a visit and in-depth discussion with five Hawai’i registered nurses led by Elizabeth Kahakua, Executive Director of American Nurses Association-Hawai’i. We have almost 32,000 RNs throughout Hawai’i who do such critical work for all of us every day, but their (and thus our) challenges are numerous, starting with a shortage of at least 10%. We focused on federal initiatives including appropriations to address those severe issues. With gratitude for your service.

Our Hawai’i veterans and ‘ohana deserve to buried in a national cemetery in Hawai’i if they want. I testified in our House Veterans Affairs Committee in support of my bill, the Hawaii National Cemetery Act, to advance another national cemetery in Hawai’i, as our precious National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific is closed to new casket burials and will soon run out of room for cremated remains. congress.gov/bill/119th-con….

In Appropriations, deliberating Defense, our last and largest of twelve measures for upcoming fiscal year 2027, I spoke three times, on objections to the measure starting with no effective oversight of proposed huge increases, on the political purge of military leaders that has disproportionately targeted women and minorities, and on the need for updated missile defense for Hawai’i and our other Indo-Pacific, while also welcoming the adoption of several of my requests. My press release with clips to my remarks is here: case.house.gov/news/documents…